One round in, both the Power and Bombers are under the pump to show something following horrific performances in their first games of 2026?

Who will stand up in this Sunday afternoon clash? FOLLOW LIVE.

Q1: DISMAL DONS BLOWN OFF THE PARK

Essendon is getting embarrassed by Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, and it is just a quarter in.

Both sides came off heavy Round 1 losses and the Bombers are set for a second-straight thumping and their 15th straight defeat with the Power putting them to the sword in a dominant display to be 32-points up.

“I don’t think I have seen a more dominant display at one end of the ground,” former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said on Fox Footy.

The Bombers have often been their worst enemies with a handball-heavy game, especially out of defence inviting plenty of pressure from the Power.

Young star Jason Horne-Francis has kicked three goals, with the Power having the game completely on its terms.

Essendon defender Mason Redman has been ruled out for the rest of the game.

Redman limped off towards the end of the quarter with a knee injury and is on the Bombers’ bench with ice on it.

The Bombers say it is suspected he has suffered a lateral meniscus injury.

PRE-GAME: CARR HITS BACK OVER ROUND 1 ERROR

New Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr says talk of his pre-match address in round 1 have been “blown out of proportion” in the wake of his side’s disastrous loss to North Melbourne.

The Power faced questions about its approach to its clash against the Kangaroos in the wake of half-back Jase Burgoyne’s comments that players needed to “pay more respect to the teams that you probably don’t think you’re likely to lose to”.

Carr told Fox Footy his side’s mental prep wasn’t what it should have been but that any regrets he may have had over the address has been taken out of context.

“No doubt it was blown out of context, it was purely a review of our game, a view of our mental prep and I owned a certain bit of that,” Carr said.

“In the end, because you can’t give the details of what it was it was probably blown out of proportion.”

Ironically speaking to his former mentor Ken Hinkley, Carr said there was one key difference in stepping up to the top job.

“I guess it falls on you as the coach, you have a result like we did last week and you’ve gotta front up to the media and show strength but also leave your players out of it.”